Rampage. With specific regard to "seat time", I would like to express the following bit of player attitude/thinking......

When I play a game with a technology curve I expect that my playing will be an EITHER/OR choice of time investment.

I will either play modestly, but never get the tech to ever have really easy game play, and every day of game play will be the same medium level of time consumption, as modest fleets take longer to achieve goals, or......

I can WORK really hard, with long hours of seat time, to get the top prizes, so that thereafter, at least for a brief while, my game play will be much quicker, and I can ENJOY this game, and not feel like I HAVE to be devoting myself to it every day just to "keep up".

Obviously time is coin, so people who coin a large amount are also expecting that they will spend less time/money on the game once they have the latest/best fleets.

Right now, my gut feeling is, with all the "limited" prizes, requiring ridiculously high scores to earn, that far too much time must be spent playing the game, so that fun turns into chore. It feels like I choose option two, but then get handed option 1. I put in the big seat-time investment, and there is never an easy less-seat-time payoff.

Now, the important point: Kix has pretty much arranged things so this is mandatory, and forces players into a thinking where it is ALL OR NOTHING. I cannot choose to just scale back my playing to a level that is comfortable. Is it really wise to push players to a point where they feel like their only choice to relieve pressure is to quit completely? I keep reading messages from players who say "I'm back after a several month break". That's the way the thinking goes. We can't just "dial it back" and do certain core tasks and stay current. We pretty much have to just give up, and then when we come back, hope that nothing critical was awarded in the FM, then get some help from fellow players to reacquire top tech to get back in the game.

So how about someone think about how much seat time is *mandatory* for a player to get all the tech that is necessary to stay on the front lines? Coining helps us keep playing if we want to, but honestly, after several nail-biting edge-of-my-seat runs through Tier 7, I need to de-stress, so i welcome the couple of hours down time to repair. But doing that ALL WEEKEND is a bit too much.

With this sad "all or nothing" kind of time commitment, I'm afraid that the next time I have a major real world time commitment on a hull store raid, I will just be OUT of this game. And that's kind sad after all the fun I've had.

And one more thing. Maybe Kix is trying to stop rich players from coining lots to help lower levels (which just sounds silly to say it), but making each encounter longer makes it very tiring and impractical to help other players by prepping targets. Maybe Kix is just against that. But really, it is a way that a player that has fallen behind can get back in the game.

better than the previous 3-6 cycles, BUT I am concerned about the escalating 'cost' (price) ofprizes. non flagships and flagships have increased 25-50% over the past year (roughly) whilethe points payouts are about the same. if this increase is not checked, I would expect 100milflagships in 6-12 months

First, I thought the balance of the targets was much better overall and that was really appreciated... however...

Second, I absolutely hated that you designed the first raid of a series around flagships. Some people, with really good connection were able to use the fangtooths in any capacity to do well in the raid. Those of us that cant rely on their connections and is why we typically choose the blitz hull, did not really have a chance to get a decent fleet ready. Plus, having to have both fleets ready to get a bonus was absurd as well.

In summary, the targets themselves were not bad. The raid design was mucked up.

The Assault tier 7 targets was completely ridiculous...In my opinion if you didn't have Skyfires or Gutspill phoenix you're absolutely screwed...but yes some did it with phoenix only but anyways,

This raid i managed to do One which was Fangtooth depths but i wouldn't lie, they hit hard. kudos for that. Cant say i didn't enjoy this new raid format

Not sure where you got that Skyfires and Phoenix were to be used for this raid....it is a sub raid. You either use Fangtooth or MK-1 in the tier 7 targets. This might explain why you didn't enjoy it so much.

better than the previous 3-6 cycles, BUT I am concerned about the escalating 'cost' (price) ofprizes. non flagships and flagships have increased 25-50% over the past year (roughly) whilethe points payouts are about the same. if this increase is not checked, I would expect 100milflagships in 6-12 months

The Assault tier 7 targets was completely ridiculous...In my opinion if you didn't have Skyfires or Gutspill phoenix you're absolutely screwed...but yes some did it with phoenix only but anyways,

This raid i managed to do One which was Fangtooth depths but i wouldn't lie, they hit hard. kudos for that. Cant say i didn't enjoy this new raid format

Not sure where you got that Skyfires and Phoenix were to be used for this raid....it is a sub raid. You either use Fangtooth or MK-1 in the tier 7 targets. This might explain why you didn't enjoy it so much.

If you read the post carefully, you'll see that paragraph 1 is referring to the last raid of the assault cycle, while paragraph 2 refers to the first raid of the skirmish cycle, which we've just had.

Dear CM Rampage, me personally I found the raid to be great, even though I wasnt't prepared with proper fleets, I still managed pretty good. Pigeon-holing in to having a very specific fleet, was a lil unfair, esp for the smaller players who don't/won't coin to have a somewhat fleet ready. The raid wasn't over the top dmg wise, but you still needed a good skill set driving to fair pretty good. Im not 1 for so-op targets as I believe people need to earn there way to the new shiny's, however having co-op in the towers, I think would of been a good idea and dish out points for what you kill and that should've evened out the points a lil better. Overall, I liked to concept and look forward to the next 2 raid as I will be more prepared fleets wise. As I said, I'm not 1 for basicly spoon-feeding others thru co-op, a pts per dmg caused would be a great think to implement in any co-op targets in the future if you so choose to go the route. Very carful driving, since we had a bit, not much, but the chance you get wiped out for any small lil mistake, didn't appear this raid and for that I give kudo's... As others have said, not being able to help any of our alli mates besides the map targets, I wasn't a fan of, maybe that can be changed, but idk, that falls in to your court... Over all I thnk the raid was good for the most part and if any idea's that have already been posted happen to get implemented for the 2 raids and I'd almost be willing to bet that the payer base will be much happier... Thx

I have always been a bit concerned that a high level (numerically) player missing the latest tech has a *terrible* time with raids because they only have the tech to hit Tier 4/5 targets, and get seriously penalized on points for hitting below their numerical level.

But now, with tier locking you can actually block Tier 6 fleets from hitting Tier 5/4 targets. This way you can leave the points unpenalized, and, by way of example, only allow HW and tides to hit Tier 5 targets in the current raid. You could then balance them properly without having to worry about making them 'auto' for fangs/hunters.

As a time-saver, you could even use last year's A set targets as this year's B set, and by excluding the new hulls you assure those targets are balanced perfectly for last year's tech. This would also make last year's tech a more viable option for a low player raid?

Anyways, you get the idea. I was also suggesting the same tier-of-fleet limitation for PvP also. Just have the bases you could hit limited by the toughest tier ship owned and built by the base owner.....

I wanted to check in with everyone since it was a huge topic of contention before the raid went live, about the Tier 7 Targets. This event we had 2 Targets that were only for Tier 6 Hulls, Hunter's Bay and Fangtooth Depths. I know there was concerns about the targets, the point values, prize costs, and seat time.

I want to know what your experience with the Tier 7 targets was.

No disrespect MR, but why are you doing this poll?

I ask as from the previous threads especially the one about the FM change, I do not see the point in this.....

It is irrelevant what this poll shows, how is it going to do anything apart from having players state their experience? Kix will not change anything unless it has an effect on $$. With that being said, why do you want to know how players T7 experience was??

How was your experience with T7?? I understand that you haven't been playing that long, less than me, so from that point I can understand why you'd want to know what it was like, as I didn't have a hull to get into them either....and that was with help in the previous raid.....plus guidance for the Hunter TLC...my fleets were not up to it unfortunately.

I didn't partake in the raid, I did watch though, and from comms in sector, quieter than usual (and there is not much to begin with anyway) the Fangtooth was "ok" don't know what was meant by that so will put my translation (doable with an ok damage ratio) but it took a while to do, the Hunter....I didn't hear many doing that and when I did see someone doing it (rarely) they were able to do it a lot quicker...I saw it done both ways with hunters and Fangs...I must say that the fangs didn't fair up as well as the hunters as a few shot hit them and they lost nearly half their health, the hunters did alright

The only downside that i can see is that the fangs were able to do the hunter campaign but the hunter couldnt do the fang campaign.

That seems fair to me. The fang cost 100 million raid points. The Hunter took 20 mins in a TLC and came with tokens for build and VXP. The fang should be the better hull of the two, or what is the point of ever getting the top hull store prize?

@Professor Yana said:
Pretty good, difficulty-wise. And the fact that you don't have to worry about people sniping the targets out from under you anymore is a definite plus.

the biggest downside is that you can't prep them for other players any more. However, given that there used to be co-op campaign tower targets in previous raids, perhaps you could re-incorporate that feature for future events?

^^^
This last bit. Co-op for towers.

A pirate who hates stupid, lazy pirates who don't work for their tech, nor attempt to improve themselves by application of effort.Hulls won: A lot, including many I won't even bother to build. Hulls not won: More than I care to name, & plenty I don't want.

I have always been a bit concerned that a high level (numerically) player missing the latest tech has a *terrible* time with raids because they only have the tech to hit Tier 4/5 targets, and get seriously penalized on points for hitting below their numerical level.

But now, with tier locking you can actually block Tier 6 fleets from hitting Tier 5/4 targets. This way you can leave the points unpenalized, and, by way of example, only allow HW and tides to hit Tier 5 targets in the current raid. You could then balance them properly without having to worry about making them 'auto' for fangs/hunters.

OK, so how does this help those higher players who don' have the tech? Making a player who only has HWs or Tides hit Tier 5 targets is a terrible idea. If they have to grind on 45s, & put in the seat time in order to get somewhere will show the dedication of said player--if he or she has to hit higher, & doesn't have the coin to repair, then they'll just say "screw this" & walk away.I hit a LOT of 45s simply because of this issue. At least 10 million in points, & because I did that, & didn't just sit back & wait for help, those in my crew were more inclined to help me. I've been away for some time, as often higher level players are away & don't have up-to-date tech.It may be alright for you if you have the coin, but not everyone has the same budget.Perhaps you should think of those less fortunate than yourself before coming up with such an asinine idea.As an aside, I was getting 36k per 45. & lots of res to be banked. It was no problem for me to put in the seat time.

A pirate who hates stupid, lazy pirates who don't work for their tech, nor attempt to improve themselves by application of effort.Hulls won: A lot, including many I won't even bother to build. Hulls not won: More than I care to name, & plenty I don't want.

Being up to par on tier 5 of FM ensured that I had sufficient ship build tokens to have a full fleet of Fangs including the Phantom. It also meant I had the right fleets do do the previous TLC. Too many do not take the time to build the right fleets probably because they are still trying to catch up. And no you do not have to be a coiner to do this. Just the ability to constantly grind. As mentioned earlier Fangs enabled the Hunter version to be done as well. As long as you keep giving TLC's that help players to catch up or get ahead then I don't see a problem apart from the constant grind. I also find this game has too many chores to do. But in answer to your question I think the tier 7 targets were good. All you need to do now is make the lower targets a bit more achievable taking into account time available for a lot of players and their lack of good hulls. Lastly selling fleets kind of sucks when the fleets sold are not really decent builds.

Being up to par on tier 5 of FM ensured that I had sufficient ship build tokens to have a full fleet of Fangs including the Phantom. It also meant I had the right fleets do do the previous TLC. Too many do not take the time to build the right fleets probably because they are still trying to catch up. And no you do not have to be a coiner to do this. Just the ability to constantly grind. As mentioned earlier Fangs enabled the Hunter version to be done as well. As long as you keep giving TLC's that help players to catch up or get ahead then I don't see a problem apart from the constant grind. I also find this game has too many chores to do. But in answer to your question I think the tier 7 targets were good. All you need to do now is make the lower targets a bit more achievable taking into account time available for a lot of players and their lack of good hulls. Lastly selling fleets kind of sucks when the fleets sold are not really decent builds.

Had the Tideseeker fleet been sold with Reciprocators, they'd have put out more damage. Ho hum...

A pirate who hates stupid, lazy pirates who don't work for their tech, nor attempt to improve themselves by application of effort.Hulls won: A lot, including many I won't even bother to build. Hulls not won: More than I care to name, & plenty I don't want.

May get roasted for this but I'm 7months playing I agree with the new camp format for one reason it's not go out and find target or wait for re spawn it's there go.... That said 2 fleets without buying tokens for a person / persons who don't get t5 tokens is a joke you need to bring down prices for people who can't treat this game like a job seat time is not a luxury a few of us have... And as for the raid like I said 7 months and in first raid of cycle I was able to hit a t7 fang camp with, 2-3 fully built fangs because I had to put serious coins / seat time to get the tech last store raid which again was way too demanding 10m for 1 armor is not funny

Breakdown of what was and cud be1) Something many were happy with.. 1 coin blitz ( now.. this was a freebie and a option.. so dont u fckrs crib and cry )2) T7.. for those with fangs.. very doable with carefull tactical driving.. Hunters got decimated in the Fang depth target which just doesnt make sense.. Allow for both skirmisher type hulls to work in every target specially as the apex hunter was a prize in this raid so players wudnt hv it built and skulled in a day...3) A sets.. for fangs.. well worth it.. Hunters ( without flag).. took way to much damage .. was not cool4) The debate continous as to why the harlock tide and tides ( being old hulls).. wasnt allowed in the top T7.. Surely devs cudnt find a way to counter the fleet when on full blood thirst so this was shut out.. not cool at all.. Must allow the use of a particular hull type as per the event.. skirmish.. as this is.. to be used in all targets5) Fang tooth , even a few built and ranked.. allowed hundreds to grind thru this event and that was a very good aspect6) Tier bonus: T7 bonus.. spot on.. gotta appreciate this7) Above all.. balanced prizes.. no overkill.. easy raid

Thanks much to the team..

now that one was really nice imo.cut my seat time down drastically so i could do raid and spend time with familywin/win to me anyways

I started the event, but after seeing that a player needed both types of fleets to do 2 different targets to get a completion bonus just really hit a nerve and decided to just not do any of it...I remember the days of past when we could use just a single fleet to hit multiple different targets to complete a set or just single payout targets which I felt had a "fun-factor" that has been lost in the past year. I strongly feel that having the need of 2 different fleets to do a raid or TLC is just extreme and not necessary.

Lots of players doing both targets with fangs. So, two fleets weren't needed.

I gotta ask (probably can not or wont be able to answer but will go ahead and ask anyway). Was this intentional for this raid format, an accident or will this be the expected norm? While it makes a great argument for not needing both fleets, it sucks a walrus **** for those that can only get the "auto" hull.

Get the Skill hull if you want to be able to do both targets, it is a completely ****** up idea for the auto hull being able to do both or the skill hull only able to do its own target, the skill hull should be able to do any/all targets during its cycle.